Photo contest winner depicts 7-year-old shopper

Aug. 12, 2013 at 3:12 a.m.Updated Aug. 13, 2013 at 3:13 a.m.

It was the chance to spend time with friends and grab up deals that led Bethany Reyes to hit the mall during Texas' tax-free weekend, but it was a picture of her friend's 7-year-old that got her tickets to Schlitterbahn. Reyes, better known as @bethany0223 on Twitter, won the Advocate's tax-free weekend photo contest and four passes to the Texas water park. Her entry depicted her friend's daughter, a smiling Ava Rose Gonzales, standing inside Dillard's with shopping bags hanging off each arm. "She's a little diva," Reyes said with a chuckle. Reyes, a Victoria resident, said she dove into her tax-free shopping with a bit of strategy. As an employee at the mall's AT&T store, she eyed the crowds and waited until things died down some Friday evening. "Then we said 'Let's go'," she said.

It was the chance to spend time with friends and grab up deals that led Bethany Reyes to hit the mall during Texas' tax-free weekend, but it was a picture of her friend's 7-year-old daughter that got her tickets to Schlitterbahn.